Apparatus and method for managing storage copy services systems

ABSTRACT

An apparatus for controlling a storage system having a data replication function, comprises: a storage array component being operable to send notification to a replication engine that a write of data to a primary storage location by a host is subject to data replication; the replication engine being operable to receive the notification and in response to instruct the storage array to copy the data to a secondary storage location; wherein the data is copied to the secondary storage location unmediated by the replication engine.

FIELD OF THE INVENTION

The present invention relates to a technology for improved management ofstorage systems, and more particularly to a technology for managingstorage systems having storage copy services.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

One of the important services provided by modern storage controllerproducts is a copy services solution. Copy services include, but are notlimited to, remote copy, point in time copy, and continuous dataprotection (CDP). These copy services are today typically implementedinside storage controllers as an integral part of the storage controllermicrocode. Recently, though, a new approach has emerged in the industrywhereby copy services are implemented in an appliance which will here becalled a “Replication Engine”, rather than inside a storage controller.

All the above copy services, or replication, functions rely on “writes”of the protected data being “split”. What this means is that the copyservices appliance receives a notification that a write is ongoingsynchronously with the write being performed to the storage controller.

In systems according to the prior art there are, broadly speaking, twodistinct implementations of this splitter technology. These arrangementsare shown in FIG. 1. Firstly there is the technique of using a splitterimplemented in the fabric. This is shown on the left-hand side of FIG.1, where host 100 is connected to SAN fabric 104, and SAN-based splitter116 performs primary I/O to physical storage 106. SAN-based splitter 116also directs I/O to replication engine 110, in which the copy servicescomponent 112 resides and performs copy services. The second techniqueis to implement a splitter in the host software stack, such as thedevice driver. The host operating system's logical volume manager (LVM)can also be used for this function. This arrangement is shown on theright-hand side of FIG. 1, where splitter 114 is connected to host 102above the fabric level 104. In each of these implementations, the writedata is sent from the splitter to the replication engine.

The disadvantages of all these schemes are:

1. Multiple different implementations are required to cover all hosttypes and switch types.

2. Splitting in the host consumes host CPU MIPS and doubles writebandwidth requirement on the host to switch links.

3. Hosts and switches typically do not have access to non volatilememory. This means that it is hard for the hosts to reliably keep trackof the state of in-flight writes, forcing design compromises whicheither impact performance, robustness or the speed at which the solutioncan recover from loss of power.

U.S. patent application Ser. No. 11/840179 discloses a technique thatpermits implementation of a generic splitting protocol inside theStorage controller rather than in the host or in the storage areanetwork (SAN). This protocol provides the infrastructure to build acommon Copy Function across several different Storage Controllers. Theinterface is intended to be a simple interface that makes it possible toconnect storage arrays (SA) to replication engines (RE) and to eachother and allow new replication functions to be more rapidly deployed.This implementation relies on the use of a protocol in which each writecommand received by the splitter is duplicated and sent in parallel toboth the primary storage and also to the replication engine. Thereplication engine has some storage, usually (but not required to be)provided by the same storage array that contains the splitter. The REuses this as a “repository” to implement its copy services. Thisrepository will typically contain the data that has been written to theprimary disks, together possibly with older copies of the data which wason the primary disks at some time in the past, together with metadata.In this protocol, the commands used transfer both control informationand the data that was received from the host. The expectedimplementation of a replication engine is that it will not include diskstorage but will instead use storage LUNs that are provided by thestorage array. Thus the data flow for a simple write which the RE justneeds to store one copy of in its repository is: Host→storagecontroller→Replication Engine→storage controller→disks (repositorystorage). Of course in reality, the RE will probably need to associatesome metadata with the data and may also need to copy data from oneplace in its repository to another place in the repository. It may alsoneed to copy data between the primary disks and the repository.

Such an arrangement is illustrated in FIG. 2, in which are additionallyillustrated a storage appliance 200 having a splitter 202 and a storagevirtualization controller 204 having a splitter 206.

The data flow for a split write according to all of theseimplementations of the prior art may be shown in simplified form asillustrated in FIG. 3, in a which a host 300 writes data at flow 1 tostorage array 302. Storage array 302 flows the data to the primaryphysical storage 306 at flow 2 and to replication engine 304 at flow 3.Replication engine 304 adds metadata and flows the data and metadata tothe storage array 302 at flow 4, and storage array 302 flows the data tothe secondary physical storage 308 at flow 5.

Flowing the data through the RE has the following disadvantages:

-   -   The data has to make at least an extra two passes across the        network and across the busses that connect the Storage array        memory to the network. This limits the bandwidth that can be        achieved by the solution for any given hardware platform.    -   If the storage controller implements a data format including        check-bytes for data integrity checking then either the RE has        to participate in the scheme or the data is unprotected in this        part of the data flow.

It would thus be desirable to have an improved technology for managingstorage systems having storage copy services.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

The present invention accordingly provides, in a first aspect, anapparatus for controlling a storage system having a data replicationfunction, comprising: a storage array component being operable to sendnotification to a replication engine that a write of data to a primarystorage location by a host is subject to data replication; thereplication engine being operable to receive the notification and inresponse to instruct the storage array to copy the data to a secondarystorage location; wherein the data is copied to the secondary storagelocation unmediated by the replication engine.

Preferably, the replication engine is operable to create metadata forcontrol of the data and transmits the metadata to the storage array.

The apparatus may be further operable to perform a read of the data,wherein the data is returned by the storage array to the host unmediatedby the replication engine.

The apparatus may be further operable to write data from the host to asecondary storage location and wherein the data is written by thestorage array to the secondary storage location unmediated by thereplication engine.

The apparatus may be further operable to resynchronize data between theprimary storage location and the secondary storage location and whereinthe data is transferred by the storage array from the primary storagelocation to the secondary storage location unmediated by the replicationengine.

In a second aspect, there is provided a method for controlling a storagesystem having a data replication function, comprising the steps of:sending, by a storage array component, a notification to a replicationengine that a write of data to a primary storage location by a host issubject to data replication; receiving the notification, by thereplication engine and in response instructing the storage array to copythe data to a secondary storage location; wherein the data is copied tothe secondary storage location unmediated by the replication engine.

Preferably, the replication engine creates metadata for control of thedata and transmits the metadata to the storage array.

The method may further perform a read of the data, wherein the data isreturned by the storage array to the host unmediated by the replicationengine.

The method may further comprise writing data from the host to asecondary storage location and wherein the data is written by thestorage array to the secondary storage location unmediated by thereplication engine.

The method may further comprise resynchronizing data between the primarystorage location and the secondary storage location and wherein the datais transferred by the storage array from the primary storage location tothe secondary storage location unmediated by the replication engine.

In a third aspect, there is provided a data carrier having functionaldata thereon, the functional data comprising functional computer datastructures to, when loaded into a computer system and operated uponthereby, enable the computer system to perform all the steps of a methodaccording to the second aspect.

In a fourth aspect, there is provided a computer program comprisingcomputer program code to, when loaded into a computer system andexecuted thereon, cause the computer system to perform all the steps ofa method according to the second aspect.

Embodiments of the present invention, in its broadest aspect, provideapparatus and methods for exchanging control sequences and metadata withthe replication engine to allow it to implement copy services withoutthe data itself flowing through the replication engine.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

A preferred embodiment of the present invention will now be described,by way of example only, with reference to the accompanying drawingfigures, in which:

FIG. 1 shows in schematic form two possible arrangements of apparatusaccording to the prior art;

FIG. 2 shows in schematic form two possible arrangements of apparatusaccording to one proposed improvement to the prior art;

FIG. 3 shows in simplified schematic form the flows of data for a splitwrite according to the prior art schemes illustrated in FIGS. 1 and 2;

FIG. 4 shows in simplified schematic form the flows of data for a splitwrite according to a preferred embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 5 shows in simplified schematic form the flows of data for a dataread from an historic view of a volume preserved using CDP according tothe prior art;

FIG. 6 shows in simplified schematic form the flows of data for a dataread from an historic view of a volume preserved using CDP according toa preferred embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 7 shows in simplified schematic form the flows of data for a datawrite to an historic view of a volume preserved using CDP according to apreferred embodiment of the present invention; and

FIG. 8 shows in simplified schematic form the flows of data for aresynchronization of a primary volume with a secondary volume accordingto a preferred embodiment of the present invention.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

A preferred embodiment of the present invention will now be described,with reference to the figures. As described above, FIGS. 1 to 3 depictarrangements of apparatus and data flows according to the prior art.These have been described above as forming the background to the presentinvention.

In very broad terms, the preferred embodiments of the present inventionprovide hardware and software according to a new and improved protocol.The protocol informs the replication engine of all new writes to volumesto which the replication engine has subscribed. An interface is providedwhich allows the replication engine to direct the newly written data toan area on the replication engine repository volumes. The interface alsoallows metadata generated by the RE to be added to the data as it iswritten to the repository and allows data movement between therepository and the primary volumes. The protocol allows for thenecessary serialisation of these data movements and allows consistencygroups to be created between volumes. It also allows volumes to becreated to access a “copy services view” of the data in the repositorysuch as a historical view of data in a CDP engine.

As will be clear to one of ordinary skill in the art, an SA→RE→SA dataflow is necessary when the RE needs to obtain a copy of the data,perhaps to send it to a RE at a remote site (Global Mirror/MetroMirror).However, provided that the new and improved protocol according to apreferred embodiment of the present invention is used, for functionssuch as Continuous Data Protection (CDP) and snapshot or T0 copying,there is no need for the server's data to actually flow through thereplication engine. The preferred embodiment of the present inventionprovides a scheme to avoid this.

For the purposes of the description of preferred embodiments of thepresent invention, any “in band virtualisation appliance” such as theIBM System Storage SAN Volume controller is treated as a storage array(SA). The term “storage array” is not therefore limited to the merephysical arrangement of storage media, but encompasses the entirety ofthe hardware and software provision for the control of and storage ofdata in the array.

Some advantages of using the preferred embodiments of the presentinvention rather than the splitter protocol described above are:

-   -   As the data does not have to flow into the RE and then back out,        the requirements for bandwidth are much reduced in the SA, the        SAN and the RE. For a given hardware system this will allow        significantly higher data rates to be achieved.    -   As the data does not have to flow through the RE, the scheme        works even for SAS that embed data integrity fields into the        data. The RE does not need to know that the SA has done this and        does not need to have support for this.    -   As the data does not flow between the SA and RE, the link        between the SA and the RE can be implemented using a lower        bandwidth interconnect technology. Potentially, the link could        be implemented using Ethernet rather than fibre channel. This        may save significant development expense and time to market for        a storage array that does not currently implement a Fibre        Channel initiator.

The basic premise is that a “splitter” will be written in the StorageArray (SA) that will essentially mirror the write data between theprimary volume and the RE. It is intended that the storage used by theRE will be on the same SA appliance as that is managing the primaryvolume.

The exemplary descriptions of the Figures given below explain how the SAcommunicates customer write data to the RE and how the RE provides CDPfor the customer data. The command sequences are intended to be vendorspecific SCSI commands, rather than the standard SCSI commands. A SCSI“Read” is thus not meant to indicate a real SCSI read, but a commandthat looks like a read with the direction of the data transfer goingfrom the target to the initiator (SA being the initiator).

One known example of an RE product wraps Host customer data with headerand footer information. This information is the RE metadata—the RE usesthis information to manage the CDP'd primary volume data accordingly. REdevices may also choose to stripe data the CDP data and Metadata acrossthe LUNs, and therefore some of the commands require lists of LUNs andLBAs.

Turning now to FIG. 4, there is shown in simplified schematic form theflows of data for a split write according to a preferred embodiment ofthe present invention. Host 300 flows the write data to the storagearray (SA) 302 at flow 1, and SA 302 flows the write data to the primaryphysical storage 306 at flow 2. Completion is returned by primaryphysical storage 306 at flow 2 a, and SA 302 returns completion to host300 at flow 2 b. The command descriptor block (CDB) for the write issent by SA 302 to replication engine (RE) 304 at flow 3. RE 304generates metadata and returns it to SA 302 at flow 4. The statusmessage is also sent by RE 304 to SA 302 at flow 5. SA 302 combines thewrite data and the metadata received from RE 304 and sends thecombination to secondary physical storage 308 at flow 6. It is thusclear to one of ordinary skill in the art that, advantageously, the flowof data to and from the RE 304 is avoided, with consequent benefits inprocessing and bandwidth reductions. To ensure that the write data ispreserved in case of power loss while it is “in-flight”, all in-flightwrite data must be preserved in non-volatile storage between flow 2 band flow 6 of FIG. 4.

The Status message sent across the network is used for cross splitterconsistency groups, where it is possible that an RE may have beendisconnected from another SA.

In the case of a Read issued to an historic view of a primary volume(that is, an instruction to read data, not from the current up-to-datelayer, but from layer representing the data at a specified time in thepast), a similar beneficial effect can be achieved by the preferredembodiment of the present invention.

Turning to FIG. 5, there are shown the command and data flows accordingto the prior art for this situation.

In FIG. 5, host 300 issues a READ command specifying an historic view atflow 1. SA 302 flows the READ command to RE 304 at flow 2. RE structuresthe command according to its data respecting the historic view and flowsthe READ to SA 302 at flow 3. SA 302 issues the READ to secondaryphysical storage 308 at flow 4, and secondary physical storage returnsthe data to SA 302 at flow 5. The data is passed by SA 302 to RE 304 atflow 6 to satisfy the RE's READ, and RE returns the data to SA 302 atflow 7. SA 302 then returns the data to host 300 at flow 8.

Turning to FIG. 6, there are shown the command and data flows accordingto the preferred embodiment of the present invention for this situation.

In FIG. 6, host 300 sends a READ command to SA 302, which in turn sendsthe READ command to RE 304 at flow 2. RE 304 sends a status message atflow 3 to SA 302, which issues the READ to secondary physical storage308 at flow 4. Secondary physical storage 308 returns the requested datato SA 302 at flow 5, and SA returns the requested data to host 300 atflow 6.

It is possible that the RE may have fragmented or striped the dataacross multiple LUNs or that the RE-assigned LUN has become fragmentedwithin the snapshot area and hence there is a requirement for the RE tobe able to specify multiple locations of the host data. Thus the READthat is flowed to the SA 302 from the RE 304 may be a multiple-locationREAD.

There are occasions when it becomes necessary to issue a write to asecondary volume—for example, when it is necessary for the system torevert to data in an historic view preserved using the CDPfunctionality. This is the case, for example, when later data has becomecorrupted and it is necessary to “turn the clock back” in order tocontinue processing on the basis of earlier, uncorrupted data.

Turning to FIG. 7, there are shown the command and data flows accordingto the preferred embodiment of the present invention for this situation.

In FIG. 7, at flow 1, host 300 sends data to be written to SA 302, whichin turn sends the write CDB to RE 304 at flow 2. RE 304 sends metadataat flow 3 and a status message at flow 4 to SA 302, which combines thewrite data and metadata and writes it to secondary physical storage 308at flow 5.

In the case when an RE volume (or LUN) becomes out of synchronizationwith the primary volume (e.g., due to disconnection, it is necessary toresynchronize the RE LUN with the primary volume. During any period ofdisconnection between an RE and an SA, the SA is obliged to continueprocessing write I/O requests for the primary volume. While it isdisconnected the primary volume will then become out of synchronizationwith the RE LUN that is storing the CDP data. When a reconnection isdetected by the SA, the SA needs to send its DRL (Dirty Region Log) tothe RE so the RE knows that writes were received by the SA during thedisconnection. The RE then initiates copy requests for each of theregions of the primary volume that are dirty.

The command and data flows for this situation are illustrated in FIG. 8,in which host 300 has been processing write I/Os to primary physicalstorage 306 during a period when SA 302 and RE 304 have beendisconnected—possibly owing to a network disruption or a local failureat the system housing the RE 304. When the connection is re-established,RE 304 requests resynchronization at flow 1. SA 302 responds by sendingits Dirty Region Log (DRL) to RE 304 at flow 2. RE 304 sends metadata toSA 302 at flow 3. SA 302 then sends a READ command to primary physicalstorage 306 at flow 4, and receives the returned data from primaryphysical storage 306 at flow 5. SA 302 applies the metadata to the dataand sends the resulting data and metadata combination for each regionthat was out of synchronization to secondary physical storage 308 atflow 6.

In similar fashion as for normal write as described above with referenceto FIG. 4, the RE needs to wrap header and footer information around thecustomer data. The SA initiates the read requests to the primary volume,merges the data with the header and footer information supplied by theRE and then initiates the write to the RE LUN storing the CDP data.

The preferred embodiment of the present invention includes a facilityfor providing configuration instructions to the RE. Some examples ofsuch configuration commands are:

-   -   Revert/Rollback primary volume to time point X    -   Create a history view of a volume, time point X    -   Snapshot Primary volume    -   CDP protect this primary volume    -   Create space efficient volume    -   Delete space efficient volume

For consistency group support where a single RE may be used for multipleSAs, so that SAs are alerted when consistency group synchronisation hasbeen broken, a heartbeat mechanism is provided between the RE and theSAs.

In summary, then, some important aspects and advantages of the preferredembodiment of the present invention are as follows:

-   -   1. There is a facility for the SA and RE to discover each other        on the fabric over which they will communicate or to be        configured to know each other's addresses.    -   2. There is a facility for the SA and the RE to be configured so        that the SA knows which primary volumes are configured for copy        services, how to split to the RE and how to address the RE.    -   3. The SA can be configured with some storage space that is for        use by the RE as a repository.    -   4. The SA can be configured to send a message to the RE when a        new write command is addressed to a volume for which copy        services are configured. This message contains the address being        written (target ,LUN/LBA) and the length being written but not        the data.    -   5. When the RE receives notification that a new write has been        received there is a facility to allow the RE to copy this        written data to zero or more places in the repository area. The        protocol also allows the RE to write metadata into the        repository area associated with the server data.    -   6. There is a facility to prevent the data being overwritten        before the RE has had a chance to copy it. In a preferred        embodiment, the RE is allowed to copy the data whilst the write        command is still active in the SA and to prevent two        simultaneous write commands from writing to the same disk        blocks. In this case the RE has to acknowledge the new write        before the SA allows the write to complete.    -   7. There is a facility to allow the RE to copy data in either        direction between the repository and the primary volumes and        from one place to another on the repository.    -   8. In case the connection between the RE and the SA is broken it        is important that the protocol implements a way to detect and        recover. One such way is to implement a heartbeat protocol so        that the RE can know that the SA has become disconnected and can        know that any writes received from other SAs may be “dependent”        upon writes that it has not been informed about. In addition to        the heartbeat, the SA must keep a record of any writes that have        been received and not sent to the RE. It is acceptable for the        SA to coalesce this information up so that only a bitmap of        regions is kept indicating which regions have been written to        and must be synchronised.    -   9. Optionally, the protocol can provide a facility to intercept        reads so that it is possible to present data to the server that        comes from the copy services repository. In this case the        protocol provides a facility to intercept reads and return data        as directed by the RE.

It will be clear to one of ordinary skill in the art that all or part ofthe method of the preferred embodiments of the present invention maysuitably and usefully be embodied in a logic apparatus, or a pluralityof logic apparatus, comprising logic elements arranged to perform thesteps of the method and that such logic elements may comprise hardwarecomponents, firmware components or a combination thereof.

It will be equally clear to one of skill in the art that all or part ofa logic arrangement according to the preferred embodiments of thepresent invention may suitably be embodied in a logic apparatuscomprising logic elements to perform the steps of the method, and thatsuch logic elements may comprise components such as logic gates in, forexample a programmable logic array or application-specific integratedcircuit. Such a logic arrangement may further be embodied in enablingelements for temporarily or permanently establishing logic structures insuch an array or circuit using, for example, a virtual hardwaredescriptor language, which may be stored and transmitted using fixed ortransmittable carrier media.

It will be appreciated that the method and arrangement described abovemay also suitably be carried out fully or partially in software runningon one or more processors (not shown in the figures), and that thesoftware may be provided in the form of one or more computer programelements carried on any suitable data-carrier (also not shown in thefigures) such as a magnetic or optical disk or the like. Channels forthe transmission of data may likewise comprise storage media of alldescriptions as well as signal-carrying media, such as wired or wirelesssignal-carrying media.

A method is generally conceived to be a self-consistent sequence ofsteps leading to a desired result. These steps require physicalmanipulations of physical quantities. Usually, though not necessarily,these quantities take the form of electrical or magnetic signals capableof being stored, transferred, combined, compared, and otherwisemanipulated. It is convenient at times, principally for reasons ofcommon usage, to refer to these signals as bits, values, parameters,items, elements, objects, symbols, characters, terms, numbers, or thelike. It should be noted, however, that all of these terms and similarterms are to be associated with the appropriate physical quantities andare merely convenient labels applied to these quantities.

The present invention may further suitably be embodied as a computerprogram product for use with a computer system. Such an implementationmay comprise a series of computer-readable instructions either fixed ona tangible medium, such as a computer readable medium, for example,diskette, CD-ROM, ROM, or hard disk, or transmittable to a computersystem, via a modem or other interface device, over either a tangiblemedium, including but not limited to optical or analogue communicationslines, or intangibly using wireless techniques, including but notlimited to microwave, infrared or other transmission techniques. Theseries of computer readable instructions embodies all or part of thefunctionality previously described herein.

Those skilled in the art will appreciate that such computer readableinstructions can be written in a number of programming languages for usewith many computer architectures or operating systems. Further, suchinstructions may be stored using any memory technology, present orfuture, including but not limited to, semiconductor, magnetic, oroptical, or transmitted using any communications technology, present orfuture, including but not limited to optical, infrared, or microwave. Itis contemplated that such a computer program product may be distributedas a removable medium with accompanying printed or electronicdocumentation, for example, shrink-wrapped software, pre-loaded with acomputer system, for example, on a system ROM or fixed disk, ordistributed from a server or electronic bulletin board over a network,for example, the Internet or World Wide Web.

In one alternative, the preferred embodiment of the present inventionmay be realized in the form of a computer implemented method ofdeploying a service comprising steps of deploying computer program codeoperable to, when deployed into a computer infrastructure and executedthereon, cause said computer system to perform all the steps of themethod.

In a further alternative, the preferred embodiment of the presentinvention may be realized in the form of data carrier having functionaldata thereon, said functional data comprising functional computer datastructures to, when loaded into a computer system and operated uponthereby, enable said computer system to perform all the steps of themethod.

It will be clear to one skilled in the art that many improvements andmodifications can be made to the foregoing exemplary embodiment withoutdeparting from the spirit and scope of the present invention.

1. An apparatus for controlling a storage system having a datareplication function, comprising: a storage array component beingoperable to send notification to a replication engine that a write ofdata to a primary storage location by a host is subject to datareplication; the replication engine being operable to receive thenotification and in response to instruct the storage array to copy thedata to a secondary storage location; wherein the data is copied to thesecondary storage location unmediated by the replication engine.
 2. Theapparatus as claimed in claim 1, wherein the replication engine isoperable to create metadata for control of the data and transmits themetadata to the storage array.
 3. The apparatus as claimed in claim 1,further operable to perform a read of the data, wherein the data isreturned by the storage array to the host unmediated by the replicationengine.
 4. The apparatus as claimed in claim 1, further operable towrite data from the host to a secondary storage location and wherein thedata is written by the storage array to the secondary storage locationunmediated by the replication engine.
 5. The apparatus as claimed inclaim 1, further operable to resynchronize data between the primarystorage location and the secondary storage location and wherein the datais transferred by the storage array from the primary storage location tothe secondary storage location unmediated by the replication engine. 6.A method for controlling a storage system having a data replicationfunction, comprising the steps of: sending, by a storage arraycomponent, a notification to a replication engine that a write of datato a primary storage location by a host is subject to data replication;receiving the notification, by the replication engine and in responseinstructing the storage array to copy the data to a secondary storagelocation; wherein the data is copied to the secondary storage locationunmediated by the replication engine.
 7. The method as claimed in claim6, wherein the replication engine creates metadata for control of thedata and transmits the metadata to the storage array.
 8. The method asclaimed in claim 6, further performing a read of the data, wherein thedata is returned by the storage array to the host unmediated by thereplication engine.
 9. The method as claimed in claim 6, furthercomprising writing data from the host to a secondary storage locationand wherein the data is written by the storage array to the secondarystorage location unmediated by the replication engine.
 10. The method asclaimed in claim 6, further comprising resynchronizing data between theprimary storage location and the secondary storage location and whereinthe data is transferred by the storage array from the primary storagelocation to the secondary storage location unmediated by the replicationengine.
 11. A computer program product, stored on a computer-readablemedium, comprising computer program code to, when loaded into a computersystem and executed thereon, cause the computer system to control astorage system having a data replication function, said computer programcode performing the steps of: sending, by a storage array component, anotification to a replication engine that a write of data to a primarystorage location by a host is subject to data replication; receiving thenotification, by the replication engine and in response instructing thestorage array to copy the data to a secondary storage location; whereinthe data is copied to the secondary storage location unmediated by thereplication engine.
 12. The computer program product as claimed in claim11, wherein the replication engine creates metadata for control of thedata and transmits the metadata to the storage array.
 13. The computerprogram product as claimed in claim 11, further comprising computerprogram code for performing a read of the data, wherein the data isreturned by the storage array to the host unmediated by the replicationengine.
 14. The computer program product as claimed in claim 11, furthercomprising computer program code for writing data from the host to asecondary storage location and wherein the data is written by thestorage array to the secondary storage location unmediated by thereplication engine.
 15. The computer program product as claimed in claim11, further comprising computer program code for resynchronizing databetween the primary storage location and the secondary storage locationand wherein the data is transferred by the storage array from theprimary storage location to the secondary storage location unmediated bythe replication engine.